


Until the Light

by inoubliable



Series: Skin&Earth [2]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Boys Being Boys, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, M/M, No Angst, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-20 01:22:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12422118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inoubliable/pseuds/inoubliable
Summary: Eddie Kaspbrak is eleven years old. It's the first time Richie Tozier shows up outside his window.--Richie puckers his lips and smacks them loudly in Eddie's direction, throwing out his arms like he's reaching for Eddie. He pitches his voice deep and dramatic, like the protagonist of one of the really awful romantic movies Eddie's mom watches sometimes, where the girl gets swept off her feet and the man kisses her breathless. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"





	Until the Light

**Author's Note:**

> "And it's easy, pretending we're alright,  
> 'cause we live free; at least, until the light."  
> -[Until the Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA2DOU06gKI), Lights

Eddie Kaspbrak is eleven years old.

It's February, almost halfway through the school year, and so bitingly cold outside that Eddie hasn't seen much of his friends because his mother is afraid he'll shatter into a million frozen bits if he leaves the house. Eddie misses them desperately. He hasn't even seen them in class because he's been out sick for a week, even though he stopped sniffling three days ago and has felt fine since. His mother picked up his homework and he's been spending his nights working on it dutifully, though every so often he stops to peer out the frosted window, wishing fervently he had the guts to just sneak out through it.

It's during one of those wistful breaks that something collides with the glass, so sudden and startling that Eddie jolts, heart hammering. He's not even sure what he's scared of, exactly, but he suddenly doesn't want to look outside anymore. Visions of giants and beasts and monsters swim to the forefront of his mind, and his hand is shaking when he reaches out, grasping for the pullcord that will let down the blinds.

Except...

" _Eds_!"

That doesn't sound like any of the stuff he imagined. Well, unless you count Richie Tozier as a monster. Which Eddie sometimes does.

He peers rather bravely through the window, ready to dart away if something evil is staring back at him. But it really is just Richie, straddling his bike with his gloved hands cupped around his mouth. He takes one of them away to wave when he sees Eddie. He's holding a rock. Eddie realizes that's what struck his window and the fear drains out of him, replaced by righteous indignation. He yanks up the window before he can think better of it.

"You could have broken the glass!" he hisses. His mother probably can't hear him over the television and her own snores, but he doesn't want to chance it. If she catches Eddie letting in the bitter cold, he's on bedrest for another week.

"But I didn't!" Richie stage-whispers back. "I would have just come up, but I didn't know if you lock your window."

"I don't," Eddie says, and then immediately regrets volunteering that information. "What are you even doing here?"

"Missed you, Eddie Spaghetti!" Richie's nicknames started sometime during the beginning of the school year, and Eddie hates them, which naturally makes Richie love them more. "And I kind of thought you died, so I wanted to claim some of your stuff."

"Well, I'm still alive, sorry," Eddie says, his voice frosty, but one corner of his mouth is twitching up without his permission. The last thing he wants to do is let Richie think he's funny, cause he's _not_. "So go away."

"But I came all this way!" Richie only lives two blocks down, which is across the train tracks but isn't _far_.

"Yeah, I'm still not sure why you did that."

"To see you!" Richie's smile is bright and still very buck-toothed. Eddie suddenly realizes Richie's big teeth are chattering. He ducks away from the window and pulls a coat out of his closet, a warm, very padded thing that swallows Eddie whole. He tosses it down to Richie.

"There, idiot! You're going to freeze!"

"Me? Richie, the Invincible?" But he pulls on the coat. It fits him better than it does Eddie. Richie hasn't exactly started shooting up like some of the other boys in their class, but he's gained at least an inch on Eddie and is broader through the chest and shoulders. He's still shockingly wiry, but his ribs aren't quite as visible as they were at the quarry last summer. Eddie notes all of this with jealousy, sure he's doomed to be 4'2" forever, even though his doctor assures him that's a very average height for an eleven year old with such a morbid medical history.

"You can leave now!" Eddie's not foolish enough to think Richie actually will. "I'm not giving you anything else!"

"What, not even a kiss?" Richie puckers his lips and smacks them loudly in Eddie's direction, throwing out his arms like he's reaching for Eddie. He pitches his voice deep and dramatic, like the protagonist of one of the really awful romantic movies Eddie's mom watches sometimes, where the girl gets swept off her feet and the man kisses her breathless. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

Eddie's cheeks are suddenly warm and it's jarring in the frigid air. "I hate you, Richie Tozier."

"No, you don't!" Richie replies happily. His Voice sounds like an old game show host. "So come on down here!"

"What?"

Richie pats his thigh, as if Eddie is a shy dog he's coaxing out of hiding. "C'mere!"

Eddie bristles. "I'm not coming out there! Are you crazy? It's like negative zero!"

"Don't be such a wuss, Eds!"

"Don't call me Eds!"

Richie gives a long-suffering sigh, made more dramatic by the fog his warm breath makes of the cold air. "Fine, _Edward_. Guess I'll just go home." He knocks his kickstand up with his heel and starts wheeling his bike in a circle, shoulders slumped.

He looks so stupidly dejected that Eddie calls out, "Wait!" before he can help himself. Richie turns around again, smiling like the whole thing was just an act, and it probably was, but Eddie can't backtrack now. He casts a nervous glance over his shoulder, like his mother will be standing in the doorway, but she said goodnight an hour ago and is undoubtedly asleep in her chair.

She would have a heart attack if she ever saw Eddie hook his leg over his windowsill, climbing carefully outside. The thought both terrifies and empowers him. The look on her face would be priceless. The look on Richie's is even better. He looks pleased and awestruck and very impressed, and Eddie feels brave, feels reckless, feels every bit as tall as Richie, maybe even taller.

"So." He dusts his hands on his spotless jeans and tugs his sweater into place. "Where are we going?"

"Wherever you want," Richie answers, shrugging a shoulder. He doesn't have a plan, Eddie realizes, because he didn't expect Eddie to actually agree. Eddie feels even more validated. "We have all night."

"I have to be back by morning," Eddie warns him. He doesn't know when he decided he was going to stay out all night with Richie, but suddenly the idea is magnetic. Eddie wants to see what happens after dark, wants to share the secrets of the night with Richie Tozier. Richie's great at keeping secrets. He runs his mouth a lot, but he hasn't ever told anybody about the time Eddie cried when they snuck into a scary movie at the Aladdin. Eddie trusts him implicitly.

"We have all night," Richie says again, and walks his bike over to Eddie's, gesturing at it impatiently. Eddie picks it up and swings his leg over the seat, climbing on and following Richie as he peddles off the lawn and onto the concrete pavement. The cold air bites at Eddie's face and his hands, but once they're off his street, Richie whoops and hollers and shoots him a little thrilled smile, and Eddie almost doesn't feel the chill.

He manages to get home before his mother wakes up, but he gets sick again. He's out of school for another week. He lies in bed with a cool washcloth on his fevered forehead and thinks about how much he hates Richie Tozier, almost as much as he adores him.


End file.
